A Hattrick of Nic Petans

The World Juniors each year are a showcase of the young talent around the world when it comes to ice hockey and each year I seem to walk away with a new player or two to admire. A few years ago, Nic Petan wore the Team Canada colours and just seemed to dominate the tournament. It was his second appearance and after finishing 4th in 2014, he helped lead Team Canada to a gold medal in 2015 by scoring 4 goals and 11 points along the way in just 7 games. 

Success in a junior tournament by no means dictates success at the NHL level but I do believe this young 22 year old player has the potential to be a very solid second line NHL player and given he's a member of a very young and exciting Jets team, the future could be very bright for both him and his club. Over the past couple years I've managed to pick up a few of his cards:

2015-16 Upper Deck Nicolas Petan Young Gun

While I Nic'd the scan of this one from the internet, I did pull one or two of his cards during my quest for a McDavid young gun. He didn't stalk me as much as Larkin or Panarin but each time I hit him I was pretty happy with the outcome regardless.

2015-16 UD Contours Rookies Nicolas Petan /199

 Contours was a product that meant to be a little premium and a little different but alas I don't believe collectors jumped aboard the product like Crown Royale fans used to and as a result you can find this product still for a pretty reasonable price. My LCS has boxes for 89.99. I picked this one up for $5 which I'd do all over again.

2015 Upper Deck Team Canada Juniors Jumbo Jersey Nicolas Petan /199

 Game used Team Canada jersey? Yes please! I don't think this was from the Gold Medal winning tournament but then again I don't know for certain it wasn't. Either way, it was game worn by Nic Petan which is still pretty cool in a Team Canada game.

Nicolas Petan finished this past year by playing in 54 NHL games where he put up 1 goal and 13 points. Very modest numbers but he mostly was seeing bottom 6 time and support and I believe in time he could find himself higher up in the line up and as a result production will increase. In the meantime I wouldn't be surprised if we see 30 points from him in 2017-18 and more importantly I am excited to see what the Jets will be capable of this coming season after just missing out on a playoff spot. They did finish the season as the hottest team in the NHL with a 7 game winning streak so if that is any indication, look out Western Conference.

Thanks for stopping by!

A Trio of 13-14 Artifacts Brett Connolly Team Canada Patches

Brett Connolly the other night against the Rangers scored the game winning goal. That goal was his 13th of the season which is a career high and his 3rd game winner which is also a career high at the NHL level. With the home stretch coming up and a chance to play in 17 more games I am still optimistic he can approach 20 goals on the season which would be an impressive accomplishment. Combine that with him being a restricted free agent at the end of the season and is approaching his prime I am hopeful there will be a few suitors out there if the Caps decide not to retain his services. In celebration of his accomplishments here are a couple news Team Canada Connollys and one that you've seen before.

13-14 Artifacts Team Canada Brett Connolly Patch /5

 This is pretty awesome, ok patch and amazing IIHF tag. This is probably my favourite swatch out of my entire Connolly collection.

 13-14 Artifacts Team Canada Brett Connolly Auto Patch /8

I've shared this one before but this card probably has it all. Nice jersey, great patch which actually has a hint of gold in the window and an autograph. Sadly it doesn't match the photo but otherwise it's a pretty awesome piece.

 13-14 Artifacts Team Canada Brett Connolly Patch /15

The last one is new shared content as well. No autograph but two just down right fantastic patches. Part of the A in Canada and some piece of the crest with 4 colours. For a non-autographed card it does a pretty good job being awesome. The person at Upper Deck who assembled this one did an amazing job. Plus when you see the holo-gold foil it just draws your attention. 

I do have another rare one from this sequence and that is the basic auto black /5 but it didn't have any patches or swatches and is standard thickness and I am worried about trying to pick it back up off the scanner bed given the black can chip easily so perhaps I'll snap a photo some day with the camera and share it. Thanks for stopping by, next post hopefully will be coming in a day or two!

13-14 Artifacts Emerald Brett Connolly Team Canada /8

After a very long and much needed break to begin getting things taken care of I feel that I might be ready to come back and continue sharing my adventures and sharing in those of others. Thank you very much to all those who wrote me and have stayed in contact a variety of different ways including sending along PWEs (yes I am looking in your direction Jeff, thank you very very much).

I plan on easing myself back into this possibly with a post every few days but the truth is I probably will post whenever I feel like it and that will be possibly more frequent! I have loads of new additions and fun things to have shared that have happened to me in the collecting side of things over the past few months.

To kick things off, why not go with 2 of my three collecting loves. Brett Connolly and Team Canada. If only the Devils would make a play for this kid and offer Boston a young defenseman!

13-14 Artifacts Emerald Brett Connolly Team Canada /8

While the emerald foil has never been a love of mine, I think it isn't bad on this card. The patch piece is just fantastic. You may not see it that well but there is gold peaking out in the bottom right portion of the watch. Brett's auto features his number 8 from playing in junior and I am guessing UD used up all his 28 signature stickers on the UD Team Canada set.

This card was one I had been watching for quite a while and when the price creeped down to a reasonable number I threw them an even more reasonable BO and it was accepted! If only a couple others could do the same.

Anyway, thanks again to everyone who's kept checking out my blog and at least allowed the old hit count to grow slightly and those who may have discovered my blog in my absence. I hope to keep you all coming back and thank you for your patience!

Dave

14-15 Upper Deck Trilogy Aaron Ekblad Level 2 Auto Rookie /399

It is a little less than a week away from this year's entry draft and being a Devils fan has gotten exciting for the first time in a couple months ( I wasn't too excited about a coaching change) but we get a chance to draft a piece of our future. Who will it be? Time will of course tell, Ray may have some surprises up his sleeve like the time we landed Cory Schneider or maybe he will just draft the best available player at the time.

Last year the best player in the draft and arguably the best rookie this past season was Aaron Ekblad. In my opinion he was a lock for the first overall pick much like this season's lock will be Connor McDavid. However, how big of an impact would this boy in a man's body actually bring to an NHL club. Well nearly from the beginning it was significant and by the end of the season he was arguably one of the best defenseman in the Eastern Conference. He still has lots to learn but the Panthers have gotten much more exciting thanks to an impressive collection of young forwards, Bobby-Lu in goal and a vastly improved blue line. 

14-15 Upper Deck Trilogy Aaron Ekblad Level 2 Auto Rookie /399

It appears that Trilogy is my love child this season as all the big rookies are in the set and the prices on the secondary market are very very reasonable. I was able to score this card for less than the cost of a pack of Trilogy. I have been a fan of Aaron Ekblad since he was granted exceptional status in the OHL. Internationally Aaron was a rock for the gold medal winning team this past spring at the World Championships and while I think his international resume could grow in the future it might be his only World Championship in the near future because I suspect the Panthers will be a playoff team before long. However, the 2016 World Cup of Hockey (age restrictions don't appear to play in his favour if the projections are correct) and 2018 Olympic Games will definitely feature this talent on Team Canada's blue line.

13/14 Upper Deck Team Canada Brett Connolly Auto

When Upper Deck released their Team Canada set this season I was pretty excited. Sadly, I haven't done much more than purchase a pack or two. I guess I am torn on value. Is it worth buying a box or two? Or should I just buy a complete base set for under 10 dollars and a couple hits and still be better off? True I miss out on a chance to get a big hit. But then again, I am likely not going to hit it big anyway. Tough call, in the meantime...Here's Brett! 

13/14 Upper Deck Team Canada Signatures Brett Connolly

 Check out this picture! Upper Deck did use this one before as part of his Artifacts Team Canada card. Don't believe me, check it out.

Now wouldn't this card and my Team Canada one above look much nicer with the auto from yesterday's post? I think so! Why doesn't Upper Deck manage to plan their stickers better? They are paying players directly or indirectly to sign, you think they would make a request to try and match them up with the right picture. It is minor details like this I would concentrate on if I owned my own card company.

Here is the back side of the card. Again, wish we had some stats back here. Maybe a blurb about his performance for Team Canada in the U17 or U18 tournament. Or talk about his two medal winning performances at the WJHC in 2011 and 2012. Instead, more Richard P McWilliam.